Economics viewpoint + Climate change | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/series/economicsmonday+environment/climate-change
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Scrap the G7 and its summit – it is hopeless, divided and outdated | Larry Elliotthttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/07/scrap-g7-summit-hopeless-divided-outdated
<p>The G7 has for a long time lacked the unanimity and leadership to tackle its many problems, particularly cutting carbon emissions and Greece’s unpayable debts<br></p><p><br>Angela Merkel and her guests will pose for the group photo and say all the right things at their press conferences. The richest nations in the world, they will say, have never been closer, never more united in their commitment to solving the pressing problems of today. Yes, it’s that time of year again: the annual G7 summit.</p><p>The get-togethers started after the first oil shock in the 1970s but have long since ceased to matter. The G7 is a moribund institution and has been for the past decade. As an instrument of the internationalism it was set up to pursue, it is hopeless. It should be scrapped.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/07/troika-build-greece-up-not-blow-apart-ceasefire">The troika is supposed to build Greece up, not blow it apart. Time for a ceasefire</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/07/scrap-g7-summit-hopeless-divided-outdated">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsGreeceAngela MerkelBarack ObamaEurozoneEurozone crisisBankingEuropeEuropean UnionEuropean banksFinancial crisisFinancial sectorWorld newsBusinessEuroEuropean Central BankFifaDavid CameronFrançois HollandeGermanyFranceInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)PoliticsUS newsClimate changeEnvironmentEuropean monetary unionG7Sun, 07 Jun 2015 12:18:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/07/scrap-g7-summit-hopeless-divided-outdatedPhotograph: Daniel Karmann/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Daniel Karmann/AFP/Getty ImagesLarry Elliott2015-06-07T12:18:26ZSaving the planet from short-termism will take man-on-the-moon commitmenthttps://www.theguardian.com/global/economics-blog/2013/oct/20/short-termism-climate-change-green-economy
JFK's lunar vision is needed if business is to see the long-term benefits of greening the economy as well as the short-term costs<p>We choose to go to the moon. So said John F Kennedy in September 1962 as he pledged a manned lunar landing by the end of the decade.</p><p>The US president knew that his country's space programme would be expensive. He knew it would have its critics, but he took the long-term view. Warming to his theme in Houston that day, JFK went on: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others too."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/economics-blog/2013/oct/20/short-termism-climate-change-green-economy">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsGreen economyGlobal economyBusinessEnergy industryEnergyEnvironmentClimate changeRenewable energyFossil fuelsSun, 20 Oct 2013 12:23:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/global/economics-blog/2013/oct/20/short-termism-climate-change-green-economyPhotograph: John Rous/APPresident John F Kennedy's moon speech was made in an age when both sides on Capitol Hill were prepared to invest in the future. Photograph: John Rous/APPhotograph: John Rous/APPresident John F Kennedy's moon speech was made in an age when both sides on Capitol Hill were prepared to invest in the future. Photograph: John Rous/APLarry Elliott, economics editor2013-10-20T12:23:42ZTake on the City with a 'people's budget'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/22/budget-2010-rebalancing-economy
Alistair Darling has a chance to start tackling the deep structural problems of the economy<p>Budget day has its own ritual. The battered old red box, the photo call in Downing Street, the tension in the Commons as MPs wait for the chancellor to pull a rabbit out of the hat – all are part of a peculiarly British occasion. It was never quite the same when the Conservatives moved it to autumn in the 1990s, and a relief when Gordon Brown moved it back to its proper place in the calendar.</p><p>Tradition and pageantry can deceive. The budget box may give the impression of enduring solidity but the economy is weak and the public finances are shot to pieces. More worrying, perhaps, is that plans for attacking the deep structural problems of the economy remain inchoate as the third anniversary of the financial crisis approaches.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/22/budget-2010-rebalancing-economy">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsBusinessBudgetConservativesLabourGordon BrownBank of EnglandFinancial Services Authority (FSA)BankingMervyn KingClimate changeEnvironmentTechnology sectorManufacturing sectorEnergyEnergyEnergy industryLabour budget 2010Budget deficitMon, 22 Mar 2010 01:34:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/22/budget-2010-rebalancing-economyPhotograph: Chris Ratcliffe/EPAIn his budget this week Alistair Darling will contrast government action to facilitate the economy with the Tory plans for rapid cuts in public expenditure. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/EPAPhotograph: Chris Ratcliffe/EPAIn his budget this week Alistair Darling will contrast government action to facilitate the economy with the Tory plans for rapid cuts in public expenditure. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/EPALarry Elliott2010-03-22T01:34:00ZBanking on a green industrial revolutionhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/30/green-technologies-low-carbon-economy
Idea of a national investment bank to steer economy towards low carbon future gains ground<p>George Osborne is floating the idea of a green investment bank to get new technologies out of the lab and into new wealth-creating businesses. Vince Cable wants a national investment bank for infrastructure, financed with a blend of public and private money.</p><p>Both ideas are heartily welcome. Britain needs urgent remedial action to harness a wave of environmental technologies if it is to arrest long-term industrial decline. Billions will have to be spent on expensive capital projects – in the energy and transport sectors in particular – if the transition to a low-carbon economy is to be achieved.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/30/green-technologies-low-carbon-economy">Continue reading...</a>Manufacturing sectorTechnology sectorEnergyBankingInvestingAlistair DarlingGeorge OsborneVince CableMargaret ThatcherGovernment borrowingRecessionQuantitative easingEnvironmentEnergyClimate changeGreenhouse gas emissionsMon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/30/green-technologies-low-carbon-economyLarry Elliott2009-11-30T00:00:01ZGordon Brown is right: rich western banks should pay for the developing world to go greenhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/09/bank-tax-pays-for-development
A global tax on banking transactions would curb speculation and the proceeds could break the deadlock on Copenhagen climate talks<p>The response was predictable. No sooner had Gordon Brown expressed enthusiasm for a global transaction tax than the backlash began. Not something we like, said the Americans. We want lower not higher taxes, said the Canadians. Too hard to enforce, said the International Monetary Fund.</p><p>This is the last gasp of an ancien régime. The banks in 2009 are the Bourbons in 1789, the Romanovs in 1917. They existed in a bubble of privilege and took the public for a ride. They caused a financial crisis and triggered the biggest economic crash since the 1930s. They now expect the state to clear up the financial mess caused by this greed and stupidity through public spending cuts and higher taxes.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/09/bank-tax-pays-for-development">Continue reading...</a>G20BankingEconomicsCoalClimate changeCopenhagen climate change conference 2009Global climate talksMon, 09 Nov 2009 00:06:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/09/bank-tax-pays-for-developmentLarry Elliott2009-11-09T00:06:16ZNow is the perfect time to save the planethttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/27/green-new-deal-climate-change
A green new deal will help us out of recession and stave off a climate crisis<p>Banking crisis, recession, stocks tumbling, house prices collapsing - it's been a deluge in the past few weeks to compare with any turbulence of previous decades.</p><p>It's easy, as a result, to be gloomy about the prospects. Recession, after all, is already here and everyone is worried about the immediate future. There's also a lot of talk that switching the world economy to a carbon-free future is now something that cannot be afforded.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/27/green-new-deal-climate-change">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsClimate changeGreenhouse gas emissionsBusinessEnvironmentRenewable energyScienceClimate changeEnergy researchMon, 27 Oct 2008 00:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/oct/27/green-new-deal-climate-changeAshley Seager, economics correspondent2008-10-27T00:01:00ZLarry Elliott: Can a dose of recession solve climate change?https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/aug/25/economicgrowth.globalrecession
Subverting the growth-at-all-costs model is appealing but not politically feasible<p>Britain has just suffered its weakest period of growth since the recession of the early 1990s. The economy "ground to a halt" in the second quarter of the year - the worst performance since the first quarter of 1992. The signs are that the news will get even more grim in the second half of this year.</p><p>Note the deliberate use of language. In the world of conventional economics, countries suffer periods of weak expansion but enjoy spells of strong growth. When the economy fails to grow that is axiomatically a worse performance than when it does. It is "grim" news that Britain may fulfil the technical definition of recession - two consecutive quarters of negative growth - in the second half of 2008.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/aug/25/economicgrowth.globalrecession">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsGlobal recessionGlobal economyClimate changeBusinessEnvironmentSun, 24 Aug 2008 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/aug/25/economicgrowth.globalrecessionLarry Elliott, economics editor2008-08-24T23:01:00ZA G8 removed from the real worldhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/07/globaleconomy.economics
Climate, oil and food crisis - it's no longer business as usual for world's leaders<p>It's been 13 long months since the leaders of the G8 gathered for their annual talkfest. I'm sure the details of last year's communique are etched into your brain but just in case you've forgotten what was agreed in Heiligendamm, here's a reminder. "We noted," the G8 said, "that the world economy is in good condition and growth is more evenly distributed across regions." This was June 8 2007, two months to the day before the entire global financial system came to a shuddering halt. If you like your humour black, it's rather funny isn't it?</p><p>But wait, because it gets better. The communique expressed confidence that there would be "a smooth adjustment of global imbalances which should take place in the context of sustained and robust economic growth". Glad to see, then, that there was no risk that the US sub-prime mortgage crisis would prompt what the International Monetary Fund has called the biggest shock to the global financial system since the Great Depression.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/07/globaleconomy.economics">Continue reading...</a>Global economyEconomicsOilBusinessG8Climate changeFoodEnvironmentForeign policyEconomic policyPoliticsWorld newsSun, 06 Jul 2008 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jul/07/globaleconomy.economicsLarry Elliott, economics editor2008-07-06T23:01:00ZClimate change cannot be bargained withhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/29/ukeconomy.economics
Our half-hearted measures are as dangerous as the 1930s appeasement of Hitler<p>It was a year ago this week that Gordon Brown and Tony Blair shared a platform to launch the Stern report on the economics of climate change. The then-prime minister said it was the most important report released in his time in office. The then-chancellor said his ambition was for Britain to lead the world in creating a stable and sustainable economy based on low carbon.</p><p>Green lobby groups lapped it up. At last, they said, the government had got the message about the dangers of global warming and was prepared to take the necessary measures to first halt the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and then turn the tide.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/29/ukeconomy.economics">Continue reading...</a>BusinessEconomicsEnvironmentClimate changePv Crystalox SolarMon, 29 Oct 2007 13:02:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/29/ukeconomy.economicsLarry Elliott, economics editor2007-10-29T13:02:12ZPolitical climate is changing faster than our prime ministerhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/sep/03/climatechange.energy
LibDems' green proposals show up the paucity of the Labour and Tory visions<p>At last someone in the mainstream of politics is taking climate change seriously. So it is a surprise that the Liberal Democrats' weighty new document on how it would achieve a carbon-neutral, non-nuclear Britain by 2050 received so little attention when it was published last week.</p><p>One reason was that it had appeared a few days earlier on the party's website, making many journalists think it was somehow old news. The odd one did a story about how we'd all have to stop using cars with internal combustion engines one day, as if clean air in towns and cities was not a valid aim. But otherwise there was little coverage.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/sep/03/climatechange.energy">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentClimate changeEnergyRenewable energyPoliticsLiberal DemocratsWind powerSolar powerGreenhouse gas emissionsGreen politicsEconomicsMon, 03 Sep 2007 12:45:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/sep/03/climatechange.energyAshley Seager, economics correspondent2007-09-03T12:45:08ZBritain's energy policy fails to stack up, says expert panelhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jun/04/politics.greenpolitics
<strong>&#183; </strong>Lack of strategy threatens stance on global talks<br /><strong>&#183; </strong>Indecision over nuclear stopping green investment<p>The government has failed to provide Britain with a coherent energy strategy, putting future supplies and climate change goals at risk and falling short of what is needed to help the world's poorest countries adapt to rising temperatures, a top-level panel of experts says today.</p><p>Lord Patten of Barnes, chair of the Oxford University task force, said: "Britain's energy policy just doesn't stack up. It won't deliver security. It won't deliver on our commitments on climate change. It falls short of what the world's poorest countries need."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jun/04/politics.greenpolitics">Continue reading...</a>BusinessPoliticsGreen politicsEnvironmentClimate changeEnergyMon, 04 Jun 2007 13:26:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jun/04/politics.greenpoliticsLarry Elliott, economics editor2007-06-04T13:26:09ZHurricanes are more powerful than wordshttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jun/04/g8.usnews
Katrina blew open US minds on climate change and Bush can no longer ignore it<p>It is 10 years since Tony Blair's first G8 summit. He flew to Denver on Concorde for a meeting chaired by Bill Clinton at which the United States paid lip service to climate change by showing a few hybrid cars.</p><p>In the intervening decade, Concorde has been retired, Clinton has been pensioned off but climate change has become a far more salient political issue. It will dominate this week's meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jun/04/g8.usnews">Continue reading...</a>BusinessG8US newsEconomicsEnvironmentClimate changeWorld newsMon, 04 Jun 2007 09:00:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jun/04/g8.usnewsLarry Elliott, economics editor2007-06-04T09:00:31ZSpend, spend, spend is costing the Earthhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/may/21/retail.shopping
Today's consumers make profligate pools winners of the past seem like amateurs<p>In the early 1960s Viv Nicholson won a small fortune on the football pools. Ms Nicholson was a blonde for whom the cliches "bubbly" and "blousy" seemed for once appropriate, for when she picked up her big cheque in London she announced amid a sea of flashbulbs that she had no intention of going back to her old life - trying to make ends meet on £7 a week in Castleford - but was going to party hard.</p><p>When newspapers trot out the ritual "spend, spend, spend" headline they are paying homage to Ms Nicholson's commitment to blow the lot - a pledge she duly fulfilled. She became an iconic figure. There was a play of her life and she appeared on the cover of a single by The Smiths. But when it comes to the live-now, pay-later, she was an amateur compared with today's hedonists.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/may/21/retail.shopping">Continue reading...</a>BusinessRetail industryEconomicsEnvironmentClimate changeMon, 21 May 2007 14:38:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/may/21/retail.shoppingLarry Elliott, economics editor2007-05-21T14:38:43ZBudget to give tax breaks for green homeshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/mar/19/energy.frontpagenews
<p>Gordon Brown will unveil tax breaks for households generating their own green energy as he uses his eleventh budget to challenge the environmental credentials of David Cameron's Conservatives by proposing incentives to tackle climate change.</p><p>Whitehall sources said last night that Mr Brown is likely to encourage people to install solar panels, wind turbines and other carbon-free sources of energy in their homes by exempting from income tax any money made by selling excess power back to the national grid.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/mar/19/energy.frontpagenews">Continue reading...</a>EnergyGreen politicsBusinessPoliticsEnvironmentEconomic policyTravelClimate changeWind powerSolar powerRenewable energyBudget 2007Green economyMon, 19 Mar 2007 15:45:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/mar/19/energy.frontpagenewsLarry Elliott, economics editor2007-03-19T15:45:45ZA strong economy drives global warming but will also allow us to fight ithttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/12/comment.business
A strong economy is bad for the climate but allows space to deal with the problem<p>A more rapid pace of growth adds to the pressure on the environment. Almost without exception, the recent scientific evidence has indicated that man-made factors are leading to global warming. As economies expand, they need more power, more steel, more concrete. As consumers get richer, they demand cars, holidays, flat-screen TVs. Feedback mechanisms come into play as well. Wealthier consumers can afford to put in air-conditioning to cope with the heat but cooling systems require even more power, which adds to carbon emissions and ultimately - assuming the science is right - to global temperatures.</p><p>Yet, perversely, the fact that the global economy is in a "sweet spot" has created the policy space to deal with the problem that a period of strong growth has itself helped to create. When unemployment is going through the roof, politicians want as much growth as they can get as soon as they can get it, and the environment is a long-term problem that can be put off until another day.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/12/comment.business">Continue reading...</a>BusinessEconomicsEnvironmentClimate changeMon, 12 Feb 2007 00:10:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/12/comment.businessLarry Elliott, economics editor2007-02-12T00:10:38ZMandelson calls for open markets in green productshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/dec/18/business.climatechange
<p>Europe's trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, today called for global free trade in key green goods as a way of boosting the international fight against climate change.</p><p>Mr Mandelson said the best way to cut carbon emissions was by open markets for investment in environmental technology rather than punitive taxes against countries such as the United States which have refused to pledge cuts in greenhose gases under the 1997 Kyoto treaty.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/dec/18/business.climatechange">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentBusinessMoneyClimate changeMon, 18 Dec 2006 15:45:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/dec/18/business.climatechangeLarry Elliott, economics editor2006-12-18T15:45:46ZIn a world of their own: don't expect earth-shattering changes from the inward-looking New Democratshttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/13/usnews.midterms2006
The US is coming round to the idea of cutting emissions but Iraq still dominates<p>All manner of expectations have greeted the changing of the guard on Capitol Hill, almost all of them wholly unrealistic. The arrival of the Democrats, it is said, could help break the logjam in the global trade talks, force the Bush administration to come to the negotiating table on climate change and open the way to a golden era of multilateralism.</p><p>Without doubt, this is a pivotal moment. George Bush began his presidency with the determination to use the multilateral system only in so far as it suited what he saw as America's interests. If he could not find agreement - as on Iraq, climate change and trade - the United States was content to go it alone.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/13/usnews.midterms2006">Continue reading...</a>BusinessUS newsUS midterm elections 2006Climate changeEnvironmentWorld newsUS politicsMon, 13 Nov 2006 00:11:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/13/usnews.midterms2006Larry Elliott, economics editor2006-11-13T00:11:15ZBlue chips see the green lighthttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jun/12/business.climatechange
Smart regulation is now urgent for reasons even big corporations understand<p>Nothing new in that, you may think. Business is forever bending the ear of ministers, and often gets what it's looking for. What was different in this case was that the blue-chip companies were not seeking lower taxes or a bonfire of red tape, but immediate steps to tackle climate change.</p><p>In a sense, this is not surprising. Capitalism has not survived for the past 250 years by allowing the grass to grow under its feet; it has adapted, changed, moulded itself to the evolving zeitgeist. And if you are Shell, Vodafone or Tesco, the strategic backdrop to your business for the foreseeable future is how to marry growth with environmental sustainability. The "red" challenge to capital in the 20th century has been replaced by the "green" challenge in the 21st century.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jun/12/business.climatechange">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentBusinessClimate changeSun, 11 Jun 2006 23:10:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/jun/12/business.climatechangeLarry Elliott, economics editor2006-06-11T23:10:55ZBrown's budget blow for 'Chelsea tractors' leaves green campaigners unimpressedhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/mar/20/budget.tax
<p>Gordon Brown is planning to freeze fuel duty again in the budget on Wednesday, to the fury of environmental campaigners who accuse the government of "pathetic" inaction on climate change over the past nine years.</p><p>The chancellor will also announce a rise in road tax for so-called "Chelsea tractor" 4x4s of about £30 to £200 a year, something Friends of the Earth says will do absolutely nothing to curb the use of gas-guzzling cars on Britain's crowded roads.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/mar/20/budget.tax">Continue reading...</a>BusinessTaxEnvironmentPoliticsGreen politicsBudget 2006Economic policyMoneyClimate changeBudgetMon, 20 Mar 2006 11:37:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/mar/20/budget.taxLarry Elliott and Ashley Seager2006-03-20T11:37:12ZWinds of climate change are about to make their impact felt in many a boardroomhttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/06/environment.climatechange
Top science adviser sounds death knell for theory that insists growth is good<p><strong>The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday February 7 2006</strong></p><p> In the article below we said that one gigawatt was the equivalent of 700 nuclear power stations. We should have said one gigaton. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/06/environment.climatechange">Continue reading...</a>BusinessEnvironmentClimate changeMon, 06 Feb 2006 12:00:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/06/environment.climatechangeLarry Elliott, economics editor2006-02-06T12:00:59Z